Open Thread: It is … off the pole! See ya!

I was putting the Athletics Series Preview together last night and writing about Grant Balfour reminded me of that shot from last September. That bat speed is just ridiculous, it’s a fastball up around his eyes and Curtis Granderson still got so far out in front of it that it nearly went foul. Don’t ever change, Curtis.

Anyway, here’s your open thread for the night as you wind down from the long Memorial Day weekend. The Mets are playing the Pirates (Gee vs. Morton), and that’s pretty much it. Talk about whatever you want, go nuts.

Bartolo Colon pitched very well today, but let’s not forget it was against a lineup of Derek Jeters.

CMP

Just be happy for the win.

Also, the bullpen has gotten a couple of much needed days off thanks to CC and Colon.

Xstar7

I’m definitely happy about this win. I’m just saying that the Athletics have one of the worst lineups in baseball.

CMP

I agree with you about the A’s lineup being weak but so do the Mariners and that didn’t stop AJ and Nova fro getting roughed up.

If they care of business against the teams they’re supposed to beat, they’ll have some margin for error against the teams like Boston and Tampa

Will

Uh, AJ didn’t get “roughed up” by the Mariners no matter what your definition of roughed up is. He was slightly wild (pitching to a miniscule strike zone), although none of his walks scored, and he gave up a couple of runs on some ground balls. Would have been a win if the ‘pen didn’t choose that night to suck, and would have been a much better start if Girardi didn’t inexplicably pull him after 5 innings.

ultimate913

Let’s all take a moment and feel bad for these teams:

The Rangers, Indians, Rockies and Pirates all monitored Colon this offseason as he pitched in the Dominican Republic

Not. Especially you, Rangers.

Freddy Garcia’s 86 mph Heat

The Rangers can see what Brandon Webb gives them.

first time lawng time

I hate everything about Girardi.

Especially his interviews in which he says something dumb and ge does that atupid annoying little laugh where he kinda breathes and is so fake.

Can’t wait until he goes.

Xstar7

Could be worse. Ozzie Guillen could be the Yankees manager.

CMP

or the arrogant genius himself, Tony LaRussa.

Xstar7

A manager is only as good as his team. Right Mike Scioscia?

LarryM.,Fl.

Yankee front office must be a bunch of dummies for the 12 million dollar contract over 3 years for Girardi.

He’s a regular guy. Light on the charisma but he knows how to win. But, sometimes the players don’t execute.

Wil Nieves Number 1 Fan

+1

Midland TX

Yeah, you guys are right. All these championship-winning managers suck.

Wil Nieves Number 1 Fan

No, they’re good managers because their teams were good. Did you even read the posts above?

A-Rod’s Wingman

I think he’s actually one of the better managers in baseball. People complain about him bunting with Gardner, but for a player with Gardner’s speed bunting absolutely should be a part of his repertoire. The Formula? He was given one of the best relievers in baseball, and he absolutely should show confidence in his relievers and not let a month or so overshadow their body of work. With a few exceptions he’s shown that he can manage the egos that Torre did so well and he’s shown that he can do the on field managing that Torre never did.

Scout Finch

He does bunt too much with the lineup he has but in general he’s ok and there are a lot worse. He seems to be good at rotating players and giving them days off and doesn’t overuse the bullpen as much as Torre. You also mentioned the egos. He keeps the players happy and show’s confidence in his veterans. None of us can know how that feels.

A-Rod’s Wingman

The bunting is actually a false narrative, if you guys weren’t lazy MMQBs you’d realize that due to the lower run scoring environment that were in now, Girardi actually doesn’t bunt all that often relative to the rest of the league:

My new favorite post and poster for articulating what I am too lazy or contemptuous to articulate myself.

hogsmog

Here’s to completely disregarding the fact that the Yankees have the highest slugging % in baseball, and assuming that they should be bunting as often as everyone else.

It’s not that Girardi bunts more than other teams, it’s that he both bunts more times than he should, as well as that most of those situations aren’t even good times to bunt in the abstract.

Scout Finch

I agree! It’s a different argument if Girardi is managing the Oakland As.

A-Rod’s Wingman

You’re supposed to bunt to keep a defense honest, once every once in a while for game theory purposes so the INF doesn’t play too far back or what not.

hogsmog

Sorry to be an ass… but it just bothers me when people say ‘game theory’. Game theory is a branch of mathematics that has little to do with games people actually play.

And yes, although you should bunt sometimes, you should never bunt with 2011 Granderson under any situation. I know that’s just one time, but it indicates that if Girardi’s rational makes bunting with basically the best hitter on the team a possibility, his line of thinking is definitely flawed.

mbonzo

One of the RAB writers said of Girardi, that he was one of the least stupid managers. That really ties together how I feel about managers in the MLB. You need someone who can relate to the players, which I think Girardi does a good job of, but when it comes to strategy he is one of the least awful. I can’t think of any manager that I’d call a good strategist. Mike Scioscia used to be my favorite, but he can’t seem to pull off what he used to with his aging players anymore. Someone should make a list of best and worst strategical managers.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

I generally agree, but at this point it’s obvious Gardner isn’t that great at bunting (though I saw him bunt for a hit today, not that one AB = he’s figured it out!) and is pretty darn good at taking pitches/getting on base.

CP

But Gardner SHOULD be a good bunter, and he won’t get better by not bunting.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

So practice. Don’t do it while the actual games that count are going on. IMO.

CP

How do you know he’s not practicing? No matter how much he practices, he has to try it in games at some point. Maybe he’s a great bunter in the cage and just can’t get it done in the game, but he can’t solve that problem unless he bunts in games.

Scout Finch

Yankees have the best 1-2 punch in baseball and it’s all thanks to Brian Cashman.

ultimate913

Nope. That goes to either Phillies or Angels. Halladay(1) + Hamels(4) = 6.0 WAR

Weaver(2) + Haren(3) = 5.4 WAR

A-Rod’s Wingman

Lester/Beckett’s been pretty good this year. Felix/Pineda has a chance to do something this year, as does Shields/Price.

http://twitter.com/Carlosologist_7 Carlosologist

Wow, that was a fucking shot by Curtis. Great win today.

http://twitter.com/Paddock9652 Stratman9652

So I only got to listen on the radio today but did Cervelli nearly get hit in almost every at bat today? The guy is a baseball magnet.

Also kudos to the Oakland radio guys, really intelligent, well reasearched commentary and I think they were apreciating Colon’s performance as much as the Yankee fans.

He hasn’t even pitched 80 innings this year and he went through an innovative, yet unproven, stem cell operation in his arm. Stop pretending like anyone in their right mind could have honestly seen this. Cashman threw a lot of shit on the wall, and it looks like some stuck so far.

mbonzo

Tony Pena saw it. Scouts saw it. Bartolo Colon isn’t winning games with lucky BABIP or FIP or LOB%. He’s beating pitchers with a fastball sitting mid 90’s with tremendous movement. There were 100’s of pitchers the Yanks could have picked up to try out for the 4th and 5th spot and thanks to their money and scouting they have a high success rate. I’m not sold on Garcia yet, but Colon will succeed if he can stay healthy based on the stats and what he’s throwing. Give credit where credits due.

A-Rod’s Wingman

Scouts said that he looks good but he’s going to break down this year, that was actually said almost verbatim on one of the RAB podcasts. As far as the players that Cashman selected to be the shit he threw at the wall? Yeah, it seems like the gambles he took this year were ones that were worth taking. Kevin Millwood, Carlos Silva, Andruw Jones, Russell Martin, Bartolo Colon, and Freddy Garcia…all good moves IMO regardless of how they worked out. The only other guy that I wanted him to get was Jeff Francis, maybe Duchscherer…but over all after Cliff Lee signed with the Phillies I think he handled the offseason as well as one could handle the hand that he was dealt.

Wil Nieves Number 1 Fan

Even us internet dweebs predict he’ll break down. I think most of us just want all the good innings he has to offer for the 900 K (or whatever he’s getting paid) and whatever happens happens.

mbonzo

I think theres a higher than normal chance he’ll break down, but I think theres a higher than normal chance Beckett will break down too. Fortunately, the Yanks have a great organization that can reinforce the team in June/July, while the Red Sox don’t have as much of that luxury.

Wil Nieves Number 1 Fan

I think Beckett will beak too, but as of right now he’s making me look like an idiot. At least I’m better looking than him.

mbonzo

We’ll always have that. Now that Mike Lowell is off the team we’re better than 100% of the Red Sox roster. Mike Lowell was one handsome man.

They will ride Freddie and Colon till they breakdown and have to be shot. Hopefully, it will give the Yanks sometime to be able to make a trade around the deadline. The perfect situation is one of our AA or AAA guys has about 60 innings in him by end of June for the stretch run.

Its still early in the divisions and no team seems ready to deal some quality material. The price might be heavy and is it worth a Montero or a Heathcote. You get my thoughts.

A-Rod’s Wingman

Oh his arm could blow up tomorrow and he’ll still be more than worth the money.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

Hey, I’m pretty sure I didn’t think anything like this would happen. But there’s a big difference between that and saying this was an embarrassing move, frankly.

A-Rod’s Wingman

Ehhh….I disagree. I can’t speak for Reggie C, but it was embarrassing in the context that “this is what we’ve come to” but when you were in Cashman’s situation I can’t say that I wouldn’t have done the same thing and gobbled up any vet that would have signed a Minor League contract and hope one of them gives you a month or two of good pitching so that you can make a move.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

it was embarrassing in the context that “this is what we’ve come to”

Sure, but that wasn’t what he was saying at all IMO.

first time lawng time

Really? You know for a fact that that wasn’t what he was saying?

Really? Because it kinda makes sense that that’s what he would mean.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

No, I don’t know for a fact. And I really don’t think he meant it your way, but agree to disagree.

mbonzo

Are opinions facts? I believe in the flying spaghetti monster, thats my opinion. I guess its now a fact.

MikeD

No. Signing Colon was not an embarassing move. This was not expected, but identifying players who might have something left in the tank is not embarassing. It’s smart baseball.

JobaWockeeZ

If we’re going to call people out I better search the speculation on Cliff Lee.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

I’m pretty sure I said the Blue Jays would have the worst record in baseball in 2010

mbonzo

Just did a search for my name on there. Didn’t say anything stupid!

Crisis averted.

Actually, I’ve never see a problem with the Yankees using their financial might to stock their spring training rosters or farm system with low risk/high reward guys. Hopefully its a new trend, because the Yankees sure as hell know how to scout.

first time lawng time

In his defense, considering they missed out on Lee and Pettitte, it wouldn’t have been unreasonable to be disappointed with the signing.

mbonzo

I think the point is that regular people should stop pretending that they can do the work of advanced scouts. Have faith in the Yankees and stop bashing an organization that has reformed its strategy of trading away farm systems instead of scouting your own talent.

first time lawng time

Yeah, but people should stop calling out other people and stop acting like they knew Colon would be this good.

mbonzo

Its not that they knew Colon would be THIS good, but scouts knew he could compete which is why he was invited to ST. The Yanks methodology of buying many low risk/high reward guys worked. They deserve credit, and people who bashed them, demanded they trade away farmed players, and stepped ever so close to the edge of the cliff should be rightfully called out for encouraging an organizational strategy which would hurt the Yankees.

MikeD

Who said Colon would be “this good?”

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

Pettitte hadn’t retired at the time of the signing. Would I have preferred Lee and Pettitte? Yeah. Is there need to call it embarrassing? No.

first time lawng time

Yeah, but it’s still no reason to call someone out.

And you technically could look at the minor league deal as a joke as in “what a joke that the Yankees can’t do anything this off season except sign a minor league deal.”

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

Sure it is. We can disagree on this. And I don’t think he thought that in-depth.

first time lawng time

Yeah but calling someone out on something just because he turned out to be wrong kinda makes you look like a jerk?

What if Colon sucked? Would you still be calling him out?

Yanks didn’t do much during the off season, so when they only signed a Minor league deal that kinda looks embarassing, especially considering the payroll.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

Yeah but calling someone out on something just because he turned out to be wrong kinda makes you look like a jerk?
That’s fine, I am kind of a jerk

What if Colon sucked? Would you still be calling him out?
No, but it’s still silly to call minor league signings embarrassing or a joke.

Yanks didn’t do much during the off season, so when they only signed a Minor league deal that kinda looks embarassing, especially considering the payroll.
that’s nice

first time lawng time

It’s not silly to call minor league signings a joke if that’s all your team did.

You’re just acting like a stubborn little bitch.

Clearly, ther is no arguing with you because you still think you’re right in calling someone out despite you not knowing what that person actually meant and that it’s unclassy to call someone out in general.

Seriously, if you’re going to scroll through previous posts just to draw attention to a comment and call someone out, maybe you should get a life.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

It’s not silly to call minor league signings a joke if that’s all your team did.
Please explain to me how it’s a joke. They are more or less zero risk.

You’re just acting like a stubborn little bitch.
That’s because I am.

Clearly, ther is no arguing with you because you still think you’re right in calling someone out despite you not knowing what that person actually meant and that it’s unclassy to call someone out in general.
You don’t know what he meant either. And is it better than passive-aggressively sniping at people?

Seriously, if you’re going to scroll through previous posts just to draw attention to a comment and call someone out, maybe you should get a life.
I was linked, but yeah, probably.

A-Rod’s Wingman

You don’t know what he meant either. And is it better than passive-aggressively sniping at people?

You just called out someone for getting mad about the Colon signing…you probably should be talking about passive-aggressively sniping at people.

first time lawng time

It’s a joke that the one of the biggest acquisitions during the off season was a minor league deal.

I’m sure people were thinking, wow, this team has a $200 million dollar payroll and they couldn’t get a legit pitcher.

It’s also nicer to give people the benefit of the doubt rather than calling them out.

Really, what purpose does calling someone out have?

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

Yeah, I actually called him out by name. It’s better than going on about “people” or whatever, that’s the real passive-aggressive thing. IMO.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

It’s a joke that the one of the biggest acquisitions during the off season was a minor league deal.
It wasn’t really a big acquisition at the time.

It’s also nicer to give people the benefit of the doubt rather than calling them out.
It’s also nicer not to call people a bitch but well.

http://yankeeanalysts.com Matt Imbrogno

It’s a joke that the one of the biggest acquisitions during the off season was a minor league deal.

It’s not a joke; it’s ironic.

I’m sure people were thinking, wow, this team has a $200 million dollar payroll and they couldn’t get a legit pitcher.

Yep. But that doesn’t mean those people knew what they were talking about. Literally every team signs pitchers to deals like this. This deal just got more attention because a) it’s a super-accomplished, former CY winning pitcher and b) it’s the Yankees.

A-Rod’s Wingman

Oh come on, it was a bitchy thing to do to talk about someone overreacting and hating the move. The Red Sox made two huge moves and the Yankees’ big move fell through. Of course people would be mad about expecting Cliff Lee and getting Bartolo Colon. Imagine being told you’re getting concert tickets and expecting tickets to the Metallica show at the Stadium but ending up with Winger tickets at the some shithole bar? Enjoy the fact that Bartolo’s been awesome and ditch the bitchy small minded anger. What, if JoVa gets called up and somehow manages to do well would you like it if everyone clamoring for him has their “told ya so” moment?

jesus.

CMP

am I the only one who finds it a bit obnoxious when you copy and paste another commenters post line for line in bold and then dissect it?

first time lawng time

least when I called you a bitch it was somewhat warranted. You’re just getting on someone because they disagreed with signing. I think that’s silly.

first time lawng time

You know what, this is a stupid argument and I’m done.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

A-Rod’s Wingman, I wouldn’t mind it. Gotta take lumps to get them, right? Everyone’s entitled to gloat. I wasn’t even really gloating.

CMP, sorry about that but I really feel like it’s the best way to respond to posts because, well, you can respond point-by-point. I don’t really get why people find it obnoxious but if they do I won’t do it any more.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

And ftlt it wasn’t really warranted. Thanks for the gendered slur, though.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

I mean seriously, tsjc calls people out pretty frequently. I dunno how often Ross has been on here, but he used to do it too. They managed to escape being called bitchy and petty.

first time lawng time

You’re welcome.

But it’s different when you did it. Why? Because you’ve barely been on here lately and you immediately come on and call someone out.

And when TSJC does it, he actually has factual basis.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

how was it not factually based?

mbonzo

@first time
I don’t know what you have against Bex for what she did. Its not like she called Reggie a bitch, she brought up how his point was wrong. You have a history of being rude to her, and you took if further than the debate. Pretty inappropriate for such a regular user.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

Thanks, mbonzo. To be fair, ftlt hasn’t been particularly rude to me in the past.

Haha that wasn’t me I swear. I didn’t even post during the off season.

Bexarama, I actually have nothing against you I just didn’t like you calling someone out. So I apologize for calling you a bitch.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

No worries, it’s cool. It did come off as pretty snippy, didn’t mean for it to.

mbonzo

We’re just debating baseball, don’t get personal.

Yanks spent $130m on free agents this year so I don’t think minor league signings was all they did.

http://twitter.com/#!/riddering Riddering

You’re just acting like a stubborn little bitch.

Is this a thing now? Where it’s considered fine to refer to a female poster in a dramatically demeaning fashion?

Next time you include the accusation of “unclassy” in a heated comment maybe you should leave it be for ten minutes or so and then come back and make another decision on your choice of wording before posting.

first time lawng time

Bitch isn’t dramatically demeaning at all.

IMO, she called someone out for a dumb reason and refused to consider opposing sides. That’s bitchy and stubborn in my opinion.

And she evidently agrees with me.

http://yankeeanalysts.com Matt Imbrogno

Throwing money around just because you have it isn’t a good thing.

A-Rod’s Wingman

Somewhere Rafael Soriano is telling you to go fuck yourself.

MikeD

Foolishly hoping into this discussion hours after it ended, but the Soriano signing is a good point, although perhaps not for the reasons some are thinking.

According to some reports at the time, the Yankee front office signed Soriano to counter the very perception brought up in this string of note: the Yankees were having a bad off season while the Red Sox were having a great off season.

I think this reaction by the Yankee front office was nonsense. Cashman did have a Plan A for pitching(Lee & Pettitte) and a Plan B (either Lee or Pettitte) and then a Plan C (multiple options way too lengthy to list, but included Colon and Garcia.) Signing Soriano hasn’t given the Yankees anything, so perhaps some fans need to be more realistic and not assume the Yankees ALWAYS have to sign a big-name free agent, then the Yankees won’t feel additional front office pressure to make some move, any move.

It’s not embarassing that the Yankees had to move to Plan C. Let’s not, however, blast Cashman for not somehow convinving Cliff Lee not to go where he wanted to go, and then also blast him for coming up with a credible Plan C. His Plan C took far more skill and effort than Plan A.

Many here (I’m sure myself at some level) groaned with the invitations to players like Colon. The Yankees have advanced scouts who were able to look at the second-tier players out there (and there were far more than Colon and Garcia) and determine which ones had the best chance of helping.

Russell Martin? The Red Sox had an interest in Martin, but they didn’t believe he could make it back as a catcher this year. The Yankee scouts and doctors disagreed. Major win for the Yankees.

It wasn’t luck. It was skill. Cashman gets credit. Yet let’s not assume this will hold the entire season. Cashman isn’t.

first time lawng time

I’m not saying it is, but I’m sure Reggie C and most Yankee
fans expected something better than a MiL deal.

http://yankeeanalysts.com Matt Imbrogno

Well, yes, most of us “expected” them to sign Cliff Lee. Just because they didn’t and signed Garcia and Colon to MiL deals doesn’t mean they failed the offseason or made “embarrassing” moves. In fact, Colon/Garcia are exactly why the practice of giving out MiL deals is NOT embarrassing. If they had sucked in ST/early season, they’d be gone, as most of us expected. Instead, they’re both pitching about as well as they can and the Yankees look pretty damn good for it. If they blow up in their next few starts, it’s still not an embarrassing move.

Every team does these sort of deals. These ones are just getting more attention because they’re pitching well, the exception to the rule.

A-Rod’s Wingman

Pettitte hadn’t retired but the writing was on the wall, he did what he had to do.

CMP

I wouldn’t celebrate just yet. While we’re only 1/3rd into the season, there are 5 other teams within 2.5 games of the Yankees in the wildcard standings so things are far from decided.

mbonzo

Considering the media wrote off the Yanks, most assumed they would only have 2 legitimate starters, and most (including myself) thought they would struggle until they could trade for one midseason, they have done very well. Their starting pitching ranks 6th in the AL in xFIP, IP, and WAR, and they are neck and neck with the Red Sox for first with a loaded farm system to bring up reenforcement or trade for impact bats or shut out pitchers. They’re in better shape than the Sox IMO.

first time lawng time

IDK if they’re in better shape.

The Sox have not been losing lately.

http://twitter.com/AndrewLeighNYC Andrew

OH yeah the Sawwwx are the best team evahhh because they signed Crawfaaahhd in the wintahhh and have a nice winning streak in late May. This is what happens when you watch baseball as a 15 year old.

A-Rod’s Wingman

COMPLETELY disagree with the last statement. The Red Sox have three good, relatively young starters in Lester/Beckett/Buchholz. Lester and Buchholz are all cost controlled. While Crawford and Pedroia are struggling they’re still young and should be good bets to rebound unlike say Jeter and Posada. They also aren’t counting on a large chunk of the offensive production from a guy in A-Rod’s situation. Nor do they have many albatross contracts hanging around their neck.

mbonzo

Contract issues are equal if you ask me. They have their own problems with Matsuzaka and Lackey. Even Beckett’s contract is an issue with his health situation. Their relief pitching signings this offseason have also fallen apart.

When I say that the Yankees are in a better situation, I’m talking organizationally. If the Yankees and the Red Sox entered October tomorrow I would have to give the Red Sox the upper hand. The Red Sox have a gutted farm system though, and won’t be able to fix their starting pitching problems or future injuries this year. The Yankees have more of a chance of running into injuries with their starting pitchers but their farm system ranks very high, they have plenty of money to pick up bad contracts, and they would have no problem trading for quality players if they needed them to compete. Yankees have much more leverage going forward.

A-Rod’s Wingman

As far as the farm goes, I’d generally agree with you but they do have like 12 or so picks in the first 110 or so. I also like Ranaudo, Vitek, and Workman quite a bit. I saw both pitchers at the CWS in 2009. Also, doesn’t Matsuzaka come off the books soon? ANd anyways, the A-Rod contract is probably the worst in all of baseball. He’s owed what? Another 200M or so? Yuck. On It’s High It’s Far…they compared A-Rod’s hip to Mattingly’s back. I don’t know if I’d go that far but he’ll probably never be right again. In a vacuum the Yankees’ contract situation is way worse…but they make a lot more money than the Red Sox so that evens things out a little bit, but I’d still say the Yankees have much worse contract issues.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

Why are you using It Is High It Is Far… for analysis. I’m not saying the A-Rod contract isn’t ugh but srsly.

A-Rod’s Wingman

Ehhh…I think it’s a fair comparison to draw between A-Rod’s hip and Mattingly’s back. Just because they’re not on the level of RLYW doesn’t mean that they can’t have a good point every now and then.

CMP

I’m a life long Yankee fan but if someone wanted to bet me even money on who’s gonna have a better record from this point forward, as much as it pains me to say, my money is on the Red Sox.

Hopefully I’m way off base.

mbonzo

If we’re talking about rosters saying the same I’m with you, but the Yankees’ organization has much more leverage getting players if they need them in June/July. They have a much better farm system and could pick up big contracts that the Red Sox wouldn’t be able to touch.

CMP

That’s true. You can’t account for roster additions unless you have a crystal ball but I’m skeptical that any real high impact players are gonna be available in the next 4-6 weeks.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

Guys the point isn’t that people were skeptical/Cashman has “won.” It’s that calling minor league signings like that “joke moves” is silly.

CMP

You know what they say, “Every now and then, even a blind squirrel finds a nut. “

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

Exactly. That’s why no minor league signings are jokes. Unless they’re like $5M.

A-Rod’s Wingman

Ahh yes…the Kei Igawa clause.

first time lawng time

Unless if that’s the only thing your team did during the off season.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

No, not really.

mbonzo

Yankees spent $130m this offseason. People were just pissed that they didn’t spend $360m or gut their farm system like their rivals. Yankees pickups have looked far better and I think we should point out that people who bashed low risk/high reward players should deserve to be called out.

A-Rod’s Wingman

Actually I think most people were pissed that Pettitte Retired, Cliff Lee signed elsewhere, and the Yankees blew 35M and a draft pick on a middle reliever that’s had injury problems in the past.

mbonzo

I agree but they also resigned the best closer ever, and resigned the best available shortstop. They also ended up getting a great catcher who turned out to be allstar caliber. Yankees fans are just looking for big new names to rant about. Thats why they ended up signing Soriano.

I’d rather see the Yankees doing the low risk/high reward thing than seeing people encourage stupid baseball.

A-Rod’s Wingman

What are we talking about now? The Soriano signing being dumb or Yankee fans being disappointed with the offseason? It was perfectly reasonable to be disappointed with the offseason given what they expected, the way the 2010 season ended, and the offseason that Boston had.

Reggie C was calling out Cashman, so by that logic Cashman didn’t deserve it.

Checkmate.

A-Rod’s Wingman

Oh come on, stop being obtuse. Reggie C is some guy in the internet and Cashman is a public figure and a GM of a team with one of the largest most rabid fan bases on the planet.

first time lawng time

I wonder if Reggie C is following this entire conversation. Lol

mbonzo

Reggie C is secretly Omar Minaya

Freddy Garcia’s 86 mph Heat

Reggie C could be Cashman trying to support his signing.

Midland TX

I still can’t tell if your handle indicates that you’re a troll posting in the persona of a Mike Francesser caller, or if you’re just simply that ignorant and obnoxious.

Repeating your inane opinion doesn’t make it any less wrong, on either the facts or the merits.

first time lawng time

How am I being a troll?

How is my opinion silly?

I don’t think it’s okay to call people out for no reason. That’s not silly and I’m sure most people would agree with me.

http://danielslifka.wordpress.com Jerome S.

FTLT is many things, but I swear she is not a troll.

Freddy Garcia’s 86 mph Heat

+1

Xstar7

Mike Francesser?

Pasqua

You keep saying that, but what was it, exactly, that the Yankees were supposed to do once they missed on Lee? They had their target and, for a variety of reasons, they missed it. Should they have done nothing following?

MikeD

No. I disagree with the “every now and then, even a a bland squirrel finds a nut,” because it assumes no skill or thought on the part of the Yankees. It supports the notion or blaming for failure, but then giving them no credit for success.

MikeD

*blind*…although I’m sure bland ones find nuts, too.

http://danielslifka.wordpress.com Jerome S.

Oh Cliff Lee, is thou aware of what pain ye hath caused?

Freddy Garcia’s 86 mph Heat

I kinda feel sorry for FTLT. And for whoever Reggie C is.

http://twitter.com/AndrewLeighNYC Andrew

“Nobody deserves any credit for signing Colon and everyone should expect him to fail ASAP” is wearing really fucking thin. Bartolo is a monster, oh yeah but it must be roids because no pitcher has ever resurrected his career late on. Cry me a fucking river.

Awesome video. Relaxing little piece. I’m no where near this talented, but to be fair neither are any of you. Nice little mello piece.

Xstar7

That’s amazing! That guy has some real talent.

A-Rod’s Wingman

The way he lets the open strings ring out so well is incredible, his chord technique, phrasing, and knowledge of chords up the fret board is unreal.

Xstar7

I’ve tried the guitar. I can’t comprehend how you could possibly play that well, and without even looking at some points.

A-Rod’s Wingman

There’s a huge difference between acoustic playing and electric playing when you get to that level. What makes him so good his his left and right hand independence, how he can let each string ring out clearly, and oh yeah…obviously his percussive technique that allows him to have a one man band type of thing going on.

Xstar7

It really almost sounded like he was playing several instruments at once. Incredible.

A-Rod’s Wingman

Now, if you guys are really ready to get mad, imagine if the Yankees brought back Farnsworth on a cheap contract instead of Rafael Soriano? Extra draft pick to get an awesome signability guy or a lower ceilinged college prospect, less money, shorter commitment, and a reliever that’s actually useful.

Wil Nieves Number 1 Fan

I didn’t like the contract to begin with, but I wouldn’t be so bitter if Soriano was half as good as he was last year. He’s awful. And I hope to Mo that he’s not here for the full three years.

A-Rod’s Wingman

I hope a Jayson Werth/Chase Utley situation develops and he exercises his opt out sooner rather than later.

Wil Nieves Number 1 Fan

Matt Garza is such a douche.

first time lawng time

What happened?

Wil Nieves Number 1 Fan

Nothing, he’s just a douche. I’m watching him in the Grandy video embedded in the thread. He’s just a douche.

first time lawng time

Oh haha

bonestock94

Agreed, the Rays are likeable now that he’s gone. Manny too.

http://twitter.com/SteveH_MandAura Steve H

The Royals really should have traded Soria or moved him to the rotation.

A-Rod’s Wingman

You don’t think he’ll turn it around? I hope he doesn’t anytime soon and GMDM does something dumb and trades him for Brandon Laird.

http://twitter.com/SteveH_MandAura Steve H

I think he probably will, but all of those games he’s saved for the Royals the past few years have done them no good.

Crappy teams should go to a closer by committee of sorts. Give a couple of young arms a chance to establish themselves as 9th inning type pitchers, then trade them until they have reason to need a good closer.

A-Rod’s Wingman

Absolutely, bad teams have no business with good closers. They should be traded for a couple of lottery tickets to competing teams that need a closer.

http://danielslifka.wordpress.com Jerome S.

Bad teams have no business with good players. Sell the lot of them.

http://www.twitter.com/deanezag Zack D

Could have gotten Yankees’ “big proposal”

http://twitter.com/SteveH_MandAura Steve H

Remember that? Someone reports “big proposal” which Stark took as “Montero”, so other people saw that report and assumed it to be true.

After reading some comments above, it occurred to me: Is it indeed possible that Colon 2011 > Hypothetical Pettitte 2011?

http://yankeeanalysts.com Matt Imbrogno

Yes. I doubt Pettitte would be doing this well.

A-Rod’s Wingman

I forget but was Wade Davis ever a good prospect?

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

#97 overall pre-07, #17 pre-08, #32 pre-09, #34 pre-10, so yeah. But like, James Shields was never on the top 100 prospect lists at all.

CMP

He was the Rays 3rd highest ranked prospect according to BA in 2009.

mbonzo

I swear to god if Jo-Jo Reyes doesn’t get a win with a 9-1 lead in the 5th this time I will kill the baseball gods. How does a guy with a FIP under 4 fail to earn a win in his last 28 starts. I guess its because wins are the most important stat for a pitcher.

http://yankeeanalysts.com Matt Imbrogno

Well, to be fair, his FIPs were over 5 in ’08/’09.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

He’s been not completely terrible this year but he was legit not good in the past few years. Combination of bad luck and genuinely not being good.

Pat D

Because as nice as FIP is, what those 7 guys do behind you does have an actual impact on the game.

He had a 3.96 FIP going into the game. Just an example of things evening out.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

What kind of ERA+ is that? I’ll have to lol if it’s below 100. Damn you non-existent run environment!!

Pat D

Just saw that Pujols finally hit a HR today.

Our long national nightmare is over!!

Of course the Cardinals still lost.

jon

lester was getting hit around and they still let him throw 127 pitches? thats crazy

mbonzo

Their bullpen is in bad shape.

Pat D

I guess cuz the played a doubleheader yesterday?

Xstar7

Holy shit! I JUST noticed that clusterfuck in the middle of this open thread. What the fuck is up with that?

mike c

has anybody taken a look at jeter’s splits for day/night games? check it out, it seems like since last year he’s had a much harder time hitting during night games.. I’m not sure if there’s a lot in these numbers, but it’s interesting of how drastic a difference it’s become

Those are some pretty weird splits. You should also check out the splits between Jeter in the first inning this year, compared to innings 2-9. There are some major discrepancies.

28 this year

perhaps his eyesight isn’t what it used to be? I mean, its crazy speculation but you never know. I get that day samples are smaller than night but thats a pretty huge discrepancy that can’t be attritubed to whether he’s hot or cold at a certain point.

Plus the leadoff thing, Jeter has been on base in like 20 out of 41 games he has led off. As bad as his OBP, he does do something right to start a game, still should be moved down.

http://twitter.com/Carlosologist_7 Carlosologist

Following tonight’s poor start, Jon Lester has an ERA of 3.94. That gives him an ERA+ of 97. I’m not making this stuff up folks.

Reggie C.

Wow … so uhh.. i’m late to my own party.

Colon’s made me eat a ton of crow. I’m man enough to admit when my knee jerk assessment was dead wrong. Colon’s done far more in 57 innings than i thought possible. Age related decline, injury, and Obesity had me convinced that he wouldnt be able to pitch himself out of a bullpen role.

Nice catch Bex.

/someguyontheinternet

mbonzo

Well said. I think we’ve all spoken with our emotions before. The beginning of this season has proven to a lot of people that patience is a valuable organizational strategy. If Levine was GM this team would look very different, and I’m happy we have someone with such a level head running most of the gig.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

No worries. Didn’t mean to be a bitch, and I’m pretty sure just about no one thought he’d be this good (including myself). The idea of it being a joke was what struck me, but again – no worries.

CMP

Your posts are always enjoyable and IMO, I’ve never seen one that comes across as overly bitchy or nasty.

As for the point by point thing, I can see how it makes it earier to respond. I guess it just reminds me of another RAB commenters style (initials are TN) who in my opinion is completely obnoxious and condescending.

http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com bexarama

I know it’s hours later so you might not see this, but wow, thanks – it means a lot. I know I am really snarky, but I think I can take it as well as I give it out (hurrr), not that that’s an excuse to be flat-out nasty/bitchy. I really do try not to be condescending because that’s the worst, but reading the tone of some of my posts later I totally fail, a lot. :/

(Also it took me like 5 hours to realize who you were talking about and I don’t mind said commenter though I get why people would.)

CMP

Your welcome.

Said commenter is pretty much a total annoyance in my eyes since he can and frequently does turn the most benign comment into an argument just for the sake of being contrarian.

MikeD

Oh, Reggie C. Stop it. You were just being a bitch.

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

boogie down

If I can trade Kelly Johnson for Colby Rasmus, should I do it? Looks like Johnson’s coming around, so I’m not sure. Btw, I have Utley, with Cuddyer as a backup.

mbonzo

If this isn’t a keeper league I’d try to stay away from Rasmus. He’s got a lot of potential but I don’t think this is the year. He’s certainly getting better but I don’t think the power numbers are gonna come around this year. Kelly Johnson could very well be getting hot soon with his low babip, and I’d expect some nice power numbers.

If this is a keeper, I’d trade for Rasmus though.

http://twitter.com/SteveH_MandAura Steve H

I’d do it. Rasmus has been pretty awesome the past two years. Depends on the categories, but if you are confident in Cuddyer as a starting 2B (if Utley goes down), I’d do it.